Hello all

Had a look around the forums for a similar post but found nothing.

Bit of back story, I finished the active study of my engineering PhD in 2013 and started a graduate scheme (which is one year of rotation and two in a VERY junior role) at an automotive consultancy as it was the only job I could get at the time and they do some research (though very sparse). From this I have also published three journal/conference papers, one of them in the SAE.
Cycle to today and I have nearly finished my write-up but have been told that since I started the grad scheme, there is no way to break free of it and move up the ranks, both in terms of pay and responsibility

In the last few weeks I have been offered a fully-funded 2.5yr post-doc position at a top London engineering university so here is the conundrum.
Do I stay in the poorly funded, three-year graduate scheme that is lots of hand-holding guff but it is a foot in the door in industry?
Or do I take the post-doc which is on way more money than I am at the moment and in London but is only 2.5 years long and could be seen as 'not real experience' by employers?

Are there any people out there who have finished engineering post-docs and struggled to get into industry? Or is time in a post-doc viewed as relevant and valuable experience?

Help!

Only you can make this decision, but my advice would be to take the PD, you can get another industry placement later if needed.